


After the Dawn

by bunflower



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Episode Ignis Spoilers, Everybody Lives, Fix-It, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Ignis Scientia Needs a Hug, M/M, OT4, good ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-11-28 17:21:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20970221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunflower/pseuds/bunflower
Summary: Dawn had never looked so beautiful.orThe precious moments after Noctis restores light to the world. Episode Ignis spoilers. Good ending.





	After the Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> Back at it again, this time with my first venture into the FFXV fanfiction realm! The ending of the game really broke me, and Episode Ignis healed it all over again, so I felt the need to write this small moment from the alternative, good end. The boys truly deserve an ending like this, in my opinion, so I wanted to give it to them.
> 
> This can be read as romantic or platonic, but I did throw hints of our favorite OT4 in there as well as some strong Ignoct for you shippers!

* * *

It’s over.

As dawn blooms in brilliant pinks, oranges, and yellows over the skyline of Insomnia, Ignis breathes a sigh of relief for the first time in over ten years. It’s more beautiful than he ever could have imagined, beyond any of his wildest dreams.

He smiles, lips tugging upward out of his control, and on either side he sees his companions do the same. They’re beaten and bloodied, but alive. All of them. Including…

A hand thumps down on his shoulder, its weight soothing and all too familiar.

“Noct.” He breathes, and cannot suppress the tears that prick at the corner of his eyes as he turns to face his King.

Noctis is perhaps the worst off of them, his face dark with bruises, clothing torn and skin marred with cuts potions could no longer heal, but he’s alive. _‘Oh, Six, he’s alive’_, and that’s more than Ignis would have dared dream when he faced Ardyn down in Zegnautus Keep ten years prior. He takes a moment, maybe two, to study the face of his King, barely daring to breathe as Noctis returns the favor, lifting his other hand to brush against Ignis’ cheek, rubbing just beneath the scars across his eye.

Flashes of another world, another future, danced behind Ignis’ eyes. Of a world in which Noctis’ sacrificed his life to bring about a dawn Ignis would never see. A world in which ten years of waiting were for nothing, and Ignis had to listen to the footsteps of his dearest treasure as he ascended the steps to his inevitable death, and could do nothing but stand and wait.

“_Iggy_.” Noctis’ rumble brought him out of his thoughts, his memories of the other world, and it was then that he felt the hot burn of tears tracking down his face. Noctis’ thumb, rough and calloused as it was, brushed them away with all the gentleness he could muster, the touch feather-light. Ignis’ knees trembled as he leaned into the touch, tipping forward until his forehead rested against that of his King. The world around them stilled for a moment, the rushing in his ears quieting as he did nothing but drink in the other’s very warm, very real and _very much alive_ presence.

“We did it, Specs.”

A watery laugh bubbled out of Ignis’ chest as he pulled back, hands sliding down Noct’s frame until he held the other’s hands in his own.

“_You_ did it.” Noct continued, giving his hands a firm squeeze. Ignis wanted to protest, wanted to argue that it had been Noctis who had brought dawn back to the world, that it was Prompto and Gladio too who stood alongside their King in the face of darkness, but the look on Noctis’ face commanded no argument. He swallowed thickly and nodded, not trusting his voice at this moment, too overcome with his emotions.

He had not battled Ardyn for glory or recognition. He had not cared if in that moment, he gave his last breath. The only thought on his mind had been of Noctis, and of ensuring his safety. When the kings of old had demanded a sacrifice, he had willingly given it, and would do so again without hesitation to save those he loved.

Noctis pulled him into a tight hug, Ignis immediately burrowing his nose under Noctis’ chin. The man murmured something that his advisor did not catch, too preoccupied with clinging tightly and never letting go again.

From behind him, he could hear the steady, solid footsteps of Gladio approaching, followed by the much more rapid, slightly clumsy scuffle of Prompto. The two were at their sides in moments, Noctis beckoning them into the embrace with a smile and nod. In an instant, Ignis found himself positively surrounded by warmth, tucked into the firm grasp of those closest to his heart. He was not ignorant of the way Noctis trembled, nor the soft whimpers coming from Prompto or the way Gladio’s fingers tangled tightly in his jacket. They had achieved victory at last, but the burden they had carried for all of these years had taken its toll. Later there would be a time to talk, to heal and rebuild, but for now, all they needed was each other.

But first...

Carefully, and rather reluctantly, Ignis pulled back from the trio, ignoring the soft noise of confusion from Prompto, who gently reached for his shoulder again. Cradling Noctis’ hand between his own two, Ignis brought it slowly up to his lips, pressing a chaste kiss to the back of it before slowly sinking to his knee before his King. After a moment, Gladio and Prompto knelt down beside him, bowing their heads to the true King as the painted morning sky behind him silhouetted his frame in bright golds and pinks.

Another smile graced Ignis’ lips as he drank in the sight. It seemed even the gods were rejoicing. He released Noct’s hand, bringing his fist slowly and deliberately to his chest and bowing his head.

“_Your Majesty_.”

Dawn had never looked so beautiful.


End file.
